Hen-feathered blue bantam rooster

[JadeFarms]

Guys... please just believe me that this is a roo. I am an experienced chicken keeper here (I've had chickens my whole life - trust me, I know a rooster when I see one, especially one that is fully mature) and he exhibits all rooster behaviors, from fighting with my other roo to crowing all morning and dancing around (and mounting) my hens. I dont know what else I can do to convince you all except upload a video, and frankly, that's just too much effort.

Honestly, I'm a little offended at the replies to this thread. In my original post, I said it was DEFINITELY a roo - I've been asking for breed advice, not gender.

At this point, I'm going to assume he's a mixed breed. If anyone else has any ideas of a breed standard he might conform to though, I'm all ears.

The only breed standards that allow for hen feathering in roosters are Campine and Sebright, but according to Wikipedia it appears with less frequency in some other breeds, especially game breeds. Neither Campine nor Sebright have a recognized "blue" variety. If he didn't have hen feathering, he would conform closest to the Blue Andalusian bantam breed standard.

Edit: thank you Jed for writing a respectful, thought-out post with all possibilities, instead of only assuming that I'm incorrect. It's definitely possible that he could be infertile - I just brought him home and haven't had time to test that yet. In fact, the inventor of the Sebright breed, which is characterized by hen feathered roosters, linked infertility to some of them because of the feminine hormones at work to produce hen feathering. It's very possible, and could have been part of why someone gave him away in the first place.

Nobody was trying to be rude, we were trying to help. He looks like a blue Andalusian. But I have heard of hens that have done the rooster dance, mounted other hens, crow and develop spurs. The best thing you could do is see if he’s fertile. Sorry if anybody offended you, we weren’t trying to.

 

[JedJackson]

I was just thinking about blue rose comb bantam, too. They do come in a blue variety. Maybe his breeder threw in some Campine genetics somewhere along the line to correct for something?

It's possible. Or maybe, as you said, he's just one of those rare instances where a breed that is not known to be hen feathered somehow produces a hen feathered male, maybe through mutation. It's very interesting to speculate, but I doubt we'll ever know for certain. But it would be cool if you could breed more hen feathered males from him.

 

[rmattise]

With that line of thinking, I suppose it's also possible that someone added in campine or sebright genetics into a blue andalusian breeding line to correct for something. I do know that henny feathering can be extremely difficult to breed out of a line once you introduce it, being a dominant gene, so perhaps they did so without knowing the consequences.

 

[JadeFarms]

If you breed him, see if any of his babies have a rose comb because if he has any Sebright in him some of his babies should have rose combs because it’s a gene that passes on many generations.

 

[rmattise]

I definitely plan to try and get some babies from him - I want to see, for one, if he carries white egg or brown egg genes, as that will suggest something about his ancestry, too. If an errant rose comb pops up, that will be extremely telling, too.

Unfortunately, my hens aren't quite laying yet, but once they are, that will be one of my first orders of business.

JadeFarms, I appreciate it - I think it's just everyone's instinct to give their honest opinion here - I know no one was being malicious. It's just frustrating that I can't accurately convey his behaviors through pictures. If I could, I think more people here would be won over.

 

[paloozaparty]

My guess: blue laced andalusian bantam rooster

 

[Amer]

Guys... please just believe me that this is a roo. I am an experienced chicken keeper here (I've had chickens my whole life - trust me, I know a rooster when I see one, especially one that is fully mature) and he exhibits all rooster behaviors, from fighting with my other roo to crowing all morning and dancing around (and mounting) my hens. I dont know what else I can do to convince you all except upload a video, and frankly, that's just too much effort.

Honestly, I'm a little offended at the replies to this thread. In my original post, I said it was DEFINITELY a roo - I've been asking for breed advice, not gender.

At this point, I'm going to assume he's a mixed breed. If anyone else has any ideas of a breed standard he might conform to though, I'm all ears.

The only breed standards that allow for hen feathering in roosters are Campine and Sebright, but according to Wikipedia it appears with less frequency in some other breeds, especially game breeds. Neither Campine nor Sebright have a recognized "blue" variety. If he didn't have hen feathering, he would conform closest to the Blue Andalusian bantam breed standard.

Edit: thank you Jed for writing a respectful, thought-out post with all possibilities, instead of only assuming that I'm incorrect. It's definitely possible that he could be infertile - I just brought him home and haven't had time to test that yet. In fact, the inventor of the Sebright breed, which is characterized by hen feathered roosters, linked infertility to some of them because of the feminine hormones at work to produce hen feathering. It's very possible, and could have been part of why someone gave him away in the first place.

Andalusian. I still believe hen with rooster behaviors though. You have to admit that it’s possible.

 

[Amer]

Remember, there are hens out there that had damaged ovaries or inactive hormones because of molting that grew rooster feathers. The latter later laid eggs, causing people to wonder why a rooster is laying eggs. I see no reason why a hen cannot behave like a rooster and still look like a hen. I just don’t believe a henny is possible since she looks to be pure Andalusian.

 

[FuzzyCritters]

If you breed him, see if any of his babies have a rose comb because if he has any Sebright in him some of his babies should have rose combs because it’s a gene that passes on many generations.

It's not possible for a single combed bird to have rose comb offspring if they were bred to another single combed bird. Single combs are recessive, so a single combed bird can't carry rose or pea genes.

 

[Amer]

It's not possible for a single combed bird to have rose comb offspring if they were bred to another single combed bird. Single combs are recessive, so a single combed bird can't carry rose or pea genes.

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